When will my hens get fertile eggs

My hens are Red Sex-Links and they have been laying for 2 weeks now and they are 21 weeks old. There is also been a rooster in there with them and he has been doing the deed. I was wondering when there eggs will become fertle and also how to check and see if they are fertile. I know this is a beginner question but I am a beginner.

They should be fertile within 2 or 3 days of being bred by the rooster. Fertile eggs will have a 'bullseye' appearance of the nucleus. Do a forum search. There are threads showing the difference between fertile and non fertile eggs. You need never apologize for asking a question here. That's what this forum is for.

Also, how old is your rooster. If he is real young, he may not be doing the deed you want him to be doing...yet. Like sourland said, best thing to do, is to check for that bullseye. A lot of great pictures here on BYC.

It takes about 25 hours for an egg to go through the hen’s internal egg laying factory. It can only be fertilized in the first 15 minutes of that journey.

This means if a mating takes place on a Sunday, Sunday’s egg will not be fertile. Monday’s egg might be, depending on when the mating took place and when the egg started its journey. I would not count on it. Tuesday’s egg will be fertile unless there is some problem.

This is after a mating. Not all roosters mate with every hen every day.

By the way a hen normally stays fertile for about two weeks. It can be a bit less and it can be three weeks or longer, but two weeks is pretty normal. So a rooster only has to mate with a hen about once every two weeks to keep her fertile.

Here is one of those threads with photos they were talking about. If you crack a few eggs and most of them are fertile, it’s pretty safe to assume most of the ones you don’t crack are also fertile. If you can’t see the spot or bull’s eye, it may be on the bottom. Try gently turning the yolk over with a spoon to see if you can fine it.